If you see an animal that is bigger than a deer but smaller than a moose it may be an elk. Does it have large antlers? Does it live in the Rocky Mountains? If so, it is an elk. They are large animals. The males are 9 1/2 feet long and 5 feet tall! The male elk fights with other males to get females to mate with it. The males bugle as a mating call. Elk can run 35 miles per hour. The calves voice is a squealing sound. It lives in meadows and forests. Elk weigh about 750 pounds. They live 14 years in the wild, 25 years in captivity. An elk's antlers are symmetrical. Their antlers break off each winter!

I go my informtion from FOREST ANIMALS published by Encyclopedia Britannica and ELK by Howard Schroeder.

Illustration by Mackie, age 9

If you're walking along and you see a pair of velvet antlers out in a forest, they may belong to an elk. They get the velvet on their antlers in the summer. Elk shed their antlers every year. Elk can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. Mature bulls can stand five feet. Cows are one fourth smaller. There are 175,000 elk in the Colorado mountains today. Elk live in forested areas, mountain meadows, foothills and canyons. Elk range from the eastern foothills to the western border of Colorado. Elk eat grass, shoots, twigs, leaves, flowers and fruit. The elk's predators are mainly wolves, pumas, human hunters, grizzly bears and black bears. The elk's color is creamy brown with a dark mane and a white rump patch. They also change color every year. When calves are born they have spots for protection. Are elk related to deer? Yes, they are related to deer.

I got my information from COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke, MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE by Marji Dumire, WILDLIFE OF THE WORLD published by Marshall Cavendish.and THE ELK by Mark E. Ahlstrom.

Illustration by Angel, age 9